Historical Traveler Reviews Art and Orchids Keaau

Outstanding! Don't miss this B&B on the Big Isle!

from anonymous

Our hosts Markie & Jerry took a genuine interest in their guests and shared much more than what is described in brochures. They opened up their gardens & workshops to us, made available a washer/dryer (with detergent!), and shared the love of a myriad of farm animals and pets. Both are excellent artists who shared their skills and guided us to create our own memory to bring home. Neighbors and friends stopped by and chatted with the guests like they were their own. A genuine "homey" feel all around. The living space was spotless. A wonderful stop that we will certainly repeat if we get the chance to visit the Big Island again!

What more to say...

from anonymous

Thanks to other TripAdvisors out there who provided enough info for what to expect. Indeed, everything is true, so not much more to add that hasn't already been said.

Jerry and Markie are great hosts, and provided excellent recommendations both around Puna and Kona for local aquatic activities, B&B tips, restaurants. The time staying out in Orchidland made the Big Island and Volcanoes NP enjoyable; nice place, nice garden, nice room, nice breakfast...I wouldn't know what else could have made it better. I travel a lot internationally due to business (4/5 star) and this was a much more relaxing experience. (I'd go so far to say anyone who doesn't give A&O a great review has unrealistic expectations.)

My only worthwhile tip to add here: follow the instructions closely getting there from Hwy. 130 if you're a cityfolk like me renting a 2WD; Pohaku Drive is not a good short-cut to 39th Ave. from Hilo due to potholes and other rural road conditions. (Orchidland Dr...or, use Pohaku Place --> 35th --> Laniuma are both fine). Enjoy your time in the rainforest.

Beautiful and wild

from anonymous

Look at their web site ---- - everything is true also that it is IN the rain forest! So don't hesitate when you drive along the so-called roads. This Bed & Breakfast with the very friendly hosts Markie and Jerry is worth every chuckhole.

We stayed with our three children in the beautiful garden room and it was so comfortable that it was difficult to leave this nice place for explorer the rest of Big Island. Everytime again!

The perfect place to stay!

from anonymous

We stayed at Art and Orchids B&B in Keaau very close to Hilo yet in the Tropical Rainforest. Great location to Volcanos National Park, Pahoa and Hilo. We stayed in the upstairs Rainbow Room with King size bed and very comfortable spacious attached kitchenette and sitting/living area. Everything is very well decorated and open and spacious. The hosts are wonderful and will provide your stay with lots of info about the area. We highly recommend this B&B and will definitely be back!

The Only Place We Would Want To Stay on the Big Island

from anonymous

Art and Orchids in Keaau, Hawaii (Orchidland) is a wonderful place to stay.

Great owners (Jerry Garder and Marklyn "Markie" Wilson), the breakfast is always good (love the fresh fruit, eggs, etc. from their garden), and the garden room was really nice and cozy.

It was nice staying at a Bed and Breakfast that accomdates our "rambunctuous" 3 year old son.

Our 14 year old daughter enjoyed staying at the Bed and Breakfast.

Would recommend this Bed and Breakfast to anyone and everyone.

When we move to the Big Island in 2006 or 2007, our first choice for a place to live is in Orchidland.

Very comfortable and roomy.

from anonymous

We had planned to stay our last night somewhere else on the island, but this place was so nice that we stayed on there. The rooms were fairly large, nicely decorated and comfortable. The breakfasts were great. There was a gas grill, microwave, refridgerator, dishes and pots and pans at our disposal. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to visit the Volcano area.

An Excellent Place!!!

from anonymous

We recently had the pleasure of staying at Art and Orchids, a wonderful B & B located near Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. My husband and I stayed in the Garden Room, on the ground floor and my mother-in-law stayed in the Orchid Room, on the 2nd floor. Both of the rooms were beautifully decorated and extremely comfortable. Both my husband and I have chronic back problems, but our bed was great and we slept very comfortably.

There are a lot of great things about Art and Orchids, but just to mention a few, I would have to start with the detail and care that Markie and Jerry, the owners, have obviously put into making their guests' experiences special. The rooms are beautiful and well thought out. The Garden Room has it's own sitting room, complete with plenty of books and magazines. The bathroom has a jacuzzi tub, and the little necessities like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and a hair dryer are provided. The Orchid Room and Rainbow Room share the 2nd floor sitting room, which is a pleasure to hang out in. Both the Orchid Room and the Rainbow Room also have their own private bathrooms. Guests can also enjoy the jacuzzi hot-tub outside under the stars. Breakfast is a treat, with freshly blended fruit smoothies, homemade mac nut granola, hard-boiled eggs, ham, and a freshly baked goodie from Markie's oven. We had a coffee cake the 1st morning, and muffins the 2nd morning.

You see, even though we'd originally only booked one night's stay, we had such a nice time that we decided we just had to stay a second night.

Markie and Jerry are very friendly and knowledgeable and we had a fun time swapping stories with them. I even got to play in the art studio! Markie taught me how to marble paper and even how to make hand-made paper decorated with flowers and leaves from their yard. It was really fun!

We had a wonderful time at Art and Orchids and recommend it heartily. We will be staying there again.

Rain Forest get-away with ono breakfast!

from KKKKatie

Markie and Jerry's B&B is close to Hilo, but away from the bustle. They are growing the most fascinating array of plants, from avocado to macadamia nuts, orchids of all types, bamboo, papaya, pineapple, nutmeg...the list goes on and on. The free-range chickens (no roosters to wake you up!) provided us with eggs for breakfast, the caged parrots were so colorful, it was like looking at a rainbow up close, the rain at night was peaceful and made for great sleeping in comfortable beds. The breakfast was awe inspiring - fresh made smoothie, hard boiled eggs and slices of ham, whole wheat bread, home-made muffins, local marmalade (ours was tangerine), home-made granola with macadamia nuts from the property, and more. It was very sweet to wake up in the morning knowing breakfast was going to be great. Jerry and Markie took us on tours of the property and named plants and told us about their growing details (we're planning on moving here, so this is very valuable information for us). They told us about a huge farmers' market on Sunday, too. It was a great stay, and I'd definitely stay there again. Clean, restful, fun. Markie and Jerry also have an art studio, and next time, I'd like to spend some time "playing" in the studio. A+ bed and breakfast.

Rain forest hideaway

from anonymous

I arrived at night so was unprepared for the view that awaited me upon arising. Just outside the window is a lush tropical rain forest! Due to the altitude the temperature is comfortable year-round. (No need for heat or air conditioning.)

On the table was a pile of macadamia nuts and various tropical fruits from their trees. Markie made muffins from mangos (or some other local fruit, I'm not quite sure) that were absolutely incredible! I could not stop eating them.

Markie and Jerry are fairly recent transplants to Hawaii who have a lot of interesting experiences to share. The prices are reasonable and the setup is suitable for families as well as couples or singles. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for something different and off the beaten track.

Art & Orchids: Great B&B in the Hawaiian rain forest!

from anonymous

Art & Orchids is a wonderful B&B in the Hawaiian rain forest! Jerry and Markie, the owners, are interested in tropical agriculture and art, so they have every imaginable tropical fruit growing in the yard (and available for picking and eating!), their own coffee bushes, and a zillion orchids attached to the native ohia trees. They are both art lovers and art doers. Some of the art on the walls and on the shelves is their own work and some of it they have collected--plus they have studio space and equipment for guests to use.

The rooms are lovely. We stayed in the Orchid Room, which is on the second floor and looks out on the lush trees and vines that are all around the house. And even though the other room was called the Rainbow Room, we also saw some beautiful rainbows. We woke to the sound of birds chirping every morning. The cost was $70 per night for two--a lot less than I was expecting for a room in Hawaii!

You'll definitely need to rent a car. Very close by are volcanos, surfing, more areas of rain forest, a botanical garden, and the town of Hilo with restaurants, a tsunami museum (and other museums), art galleries, etc.

TripAdvisor Reviews Art and Orchids Keaau

Outstanding

Travel Blogs from Keaau

... way to Hilo ( pronounced hee-low ) via the South Coast, (Hwy 11) For our last venue. We passed several lava flows dating back up to 1500 years, which were black and desolate, the latest flow from 1860ish was just starting to get new growth in places. As we were on the highway, there were few opportunities to stop. Had we had a four-wheeled drive un-hired vehicle, we could have visited the southernmost point of the United States and a ...

... she hadn't even bothered to zip hers up! The hot guy and his friend had left just before us, so we decided to pick up the pace a bit, though our stalking capabilities failed on this occasion and we lost them. Damn it!

We'd planned to have Thai for dinner, and hoped somewhere would do takeaway, as we were looking forward to drying off and curling up in our lovely apartment. Back ...

... that we gained a lot by staying with them rather than a hotel - our experience was more authentic and heartfelt compared to staying at a hotel in Hilo, which also would have been way more expensive.

With full bellies, we headed back to Hawaii Volcano National Park for the morning. We traversed the entire Chain of Craters Rd, which heads down the southern slope of the Kilauea volcano all the way to the sea - a 4000-ft elevation drop total over 19 miles. ...

... to the tropical rain forests that are common on this side of the island. We saw lots of interesting plants and trees, and the waterfall was nice too. The state park was a good 1500 ft above sea level - elevation here changes so fast that your ears keep popping all the time. Getting to the park was beautiful too - the landscape here is so green, and views abound anywhere you turn. On the way back down, we stopped at a little stand on the side of the road where one could ...

... dish, a loco moco - (rice, fried egg and, in this case, fried shrimp topped with thick gravy) and a catch-of-the-day sandwich (mahi mahi). The loco moco was divine. I am not a big fan of gravy normally but this was delicious, and you could tell the shrimp was fresh. The sandwich was amazing also - the mahi mahi just melted in your mouth. We washed it all down with a couple of beers from the local brewery, and headed down to the East side of the ...